Printer&#39;s line-up table



J. WEST ET AL PRINTER-S LINEUP TABLE Original Filed May 22, 1e42 Nov. 5, 1946.

3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Nov. 5, 1946. J. WEST ET AL 2,410,559

I PRINTER"S LINEUP TABLE I Original May 22, 3 s s t 2 Nov. 5, 1946. J. WEST ET AL PRINTERS LINEUP TABLE Original Filed May 22, 1942 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Nov. 5, 1946 PRINTERS LINE -UP TABLE James West, Newton, and William M. Davis, assignors to Craftsman Line-Up Table Corporation, Waltham, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts.

Original application May '22, 1942,, Serial No. 444,008, now Patent No. 2,399,610, dated April Cambridge, Mass,

Divided and this application August 17, 1943, Serial No. 498,966

3 Claims. 1

This invention relates to that class of apparatus used chiefly in the printing trade and commonly known as line-up-tables. They are designed primarily for the purpose of facilitating accuracy in the line-up of the work and precision register of the copy, although they also find additional uses, particularly in marking or lining the work, scoring negatives and the like.

The present invention aims to improve tables of this character with a. view to facilitating the matter of adjusting the straight edge with extreme accuracy, positioning it for operation on work of different thicknesses, and making these adjustments rapidly but still with precision.

The nature of the invention will be readily understood from the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, and the novel features will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a plan View of a portion of alineup table including features embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is an end view of the carriage and adjacent parts;

Figs. 3 and 4 are vertical and horizontal sectional Views taken, respectively, on the lines 33 and 44 of Fig. 2;-

Fig. 5 is a vertical, sectional'view on the line Fig. 6 is a side view similar to Fig. 2 but on a larger scale and with some parts eliminated or broken away in order better to illustrate details of construction; and

Fig. 7 is a sectional view through the shaft for lifting the straight edge and illustrating the cam provided for this purpose.

Referring first to Figs. 1 and 2, the table there shown is similar in construction to that illustrated in our earlier Patent No. 2,252,535, except that the tracks on which the two carriages arev mounted are arranged in the manner used in the well known Craftsman line-up table. Only one carriage is here shown comprising a shaft it having gears secured to its opposite ends to run on the racks [2-92, One of these gears is shown in Fig. 2 at 13. They are enclosed in housings I l-14 and thehousings areconnected by a sleeve 15 which encircles the shaft I0. Also, the housings are provided with integral extensions on which brackets lt-I6 are supported, the straight edge I! being secured rigidly to the lower sides of these brackets. At its left-hand end, Figs; 1 and 3, the shaft H) has a knob or hand wheel i8. secured thereto so that by turning this knob. the.

carriage can be moved backward and forward on the tracks or racks |2-l'2; Both the carriage and the straight edge span a table top 4 which customarily is made of transparent material and is supported firmly on the frame ofthe machine. Scales 6 and 1, Fig. 1, are associated with the table top and another scale 8 lies beside the left-hand rack IZ'. So far as the features above described are concerned, the construction is not essentially different from that in the commercial Craftsman table above referred to. I

One of the objects of this invention is to provide means for facilitating the quick adjustment of the straight edge I! while still making such adjustment with an exceptionally high degree of accuracy. For this purpose a counter-shaft 20 is mounted above the carriage shaft III in bearings 2| and 22, supported in one of said housings, and it carries a pinion 23 meshing with the gear It. A knob 24 secured to the end of section b of the shaft 20 provides a convenient means for turning it, thus rotating the gear I3 at a very slow rate and so producing a correspondingly gradual adjustment of the carriage along the racks l2.

In order to eliminate any back lash in the connections between the knob 24 and the gear IS, the pinion 23 is split or divided on a radial plane into two sections and the shaft 20 is made in corresponding sections indicated at a and I), respectively, Fig. 3. Each of the shaft sections is integral with one of the pinion sections and one shaft section telescopes within the other, as clearly shown in the drawings. At the righthand end of the shaft of the sectionb it is slotted to receive one end of a torsion spring 25, the other end of which is anchored in the knob 25. This spring is inserted under tension'so that it tends constantly to rotate one of the pinion sections relatively to the other and the force so eX- erted is sufficiently great to prevent any back lash in the engagement of the pinion 23 with the gear I3.

It is desirable to be able to set the adjusting mechanism at a zero position for a major gradnation on the scale 8 and to provide means for measuring or indicating the degree of adjustment of the straight edge from such major graduation on a considerably larger scale than is afiorded by the scale 8 itself. For this purpose a grad uated Vernier disk 25 is mounted on the shaft 20 for rotation therearound and it is provided with a tapered face 0, Fig. 3, to. engage the correspondingly tapered surface of a disk 2'! keyed clutch disk 2! or to release it for adjustment relatively thereto, as desired.

Assuming that it is desirable to make adjustments of the straight edge toward or from a major graduation, or any other selected point on the scale, as for example the graduation 24 on the:

scale 8, as shown in Fig. 1, the straight edge is first adjusted to that point, the adjustment being read through the magnifying lens 30, Fig. 1, which is secured to the 'carriageand overlies the scale 8. Then the graduated Vernier disk 26- can be released from the shaft 20 by backing up the knob 28, after which the Vernier disk may be set in its zero position where its zero mark registers with the fixed "match mark or base mark on the housing M, as shown in Fig. 1. The knob next is tightened up and thereafter adjustments of the straight edge can be made from this major graduation and can be read on the disk 26 in thousandths of an inch, or in whatever units of measurement the Vernier disk is graduated.

This is an important advantage in connection with certain kinds of printing and it is of advantage also in enabling a .workman to re-set the straight edge to a given position after the adjustment has been lost for any reason.

In line-up tables designed for some purposes, it is customary to mount the table top:so that it can be vertically adjusted toward or from the path of travel of the straight edges. While such adjustment is extremely important for some classes of work, the range of adjustment so provided is not required forothers. At the same time there usually must be some provision for accommodating variations in the thickness ofthe paper, negatives, or other article of work. It is one of the objects of this invention to provide for such adjustment of the straight edge toward and from the table top and thus to avoid the much larger expense of making the table top adjustable.

To this end a shaft or rod 3! extends across the machine through the brackets l6l 6 to which the straight edge I1 is secured, and it is equipped with a handle 32 by means of which it may be rotated. A cam 33, best shown in Figs. 4 and '7, is formed integral with the knob 32 and is secured fast on the shaft 3!, this cam resting on a flat surface at the edge of the table so that by rotating the knob any one of its four faces at, e, f or 9 may be brought into position to support the shaft at a spaced distance above said surfaces. The same cam construction is secured on the opposite end of the shaft 3!, as shown in Fig. 1 at 33' so that both are operated in unison. Since the cam faces are spaced at different radial distances from the shaft, this arrangement provides for the adjustment of the straight edge into four different elevations. This adjustment rocks the carriage about the axis of the shaft IE3.

In addition to this provision for making a height adjustment, means also is provided for adjusting thestrai'ght edge relatively to the carriage. Referring to Figs. 4, and 6, it will be seen that the left-hand bracket IB, Fig. 1, is provided with an upright plate-like member 34 having a iaterally extending arcuate rib 35 curved. about the axis of the shaft 3| and fitting slidably in a correspondingly shaped groove formed in an upright abutting face of a portion 36 of the carriage;

adjacent portion 36 of the carriage.

Also formed in the part 34 is an arcuate slot 3'! curved about the axis of the shaft 3| and a threaded stud 38, anchored in the part 38, projects through this slot. A nut 40 threaded on it and provided with a handle 41 serves to clamp the part 34, and consequently the bracket (6, to the The same construction is provided at the opposite end of the carriage, as shown in Fig. 1.

A typical use of this adjustment occurs in setting the straight edge initially to a new piece of work, say a negative. The operator loosens the nuts 40 ifl at opposite ends of the straight edge and turns the knob or handle 32 to lower said straight edge into direct contact with the Work piece. Itautomatically adjusts itself to a flat position on the work moving around the axis of the shaft 31 for this purpose. The operator then locks the straight edge in this position by tightening the nuts 494B. Thereafter whenhe Wishes to move the straight edge over the surface of the work he lifts it by means of the handle or knob 32, and lowers it again when it is in the proper position. A spring pressed plunger 4! Fig. 6, is mounted in the carriage member 35 where it will bear on a part of the frame when the straight edge is lowered and act as a shock absorber. Another plunger is'sirnilarly located at the opposite end of the straight edge.

This application is a division of pplicants earlier application Ser. No. 444,008, filed May 22, 1942, now matured into Patent No. 2,399,610, dated April 30, 1946. The claims in the present case are limited to the mechanism for adjusting the straight edge in a direction at right angles to itself and in a plane generally parallel to the table top, while the claims in the parent case cover other features of the invention, particularly those relating to the adjustment of the straight Edge toward or from the upper surface of' the While we have herein shown and described a preferred embodiment of our invention, it will be evident that the invention is susceptible of em bodiment in other forms without departing from the spirit or scope thereof. 1

Having thus described our invention, what we desire to claim as new is:

1. A line-up table structure comprising a table top, a carriage mounted for movement across said top, a straight edge mounted on said carriage, said straight edge extending across the working area of said table top and said carriage supporting it for movement in a plane parallel with and close to said table top, racks at opposite sides of thetable top, supporting means for said carriage including a gear running on each rack, and

means for facilitating quick adjustment of said straight edge comprising a countershaft including an inner shaft and an outer shaft sleeved on said inner shaft, each of said shafts having a pinion on the adjacent ends of said shafts, said pinions meshingwith one of said gears, a housing supported by one of said gears, bearings in said housing for said shafts, said pinions being mounted between said bearings, a first knob on the opposite end of said outer shaft, a tension spring connecting said knob to said inner shaft acting with said pinions to prevent back-lash, a disk on said outer shaft having a taper face, a second disk on said outer shaft having a taper face shaped to engage said first taper face, said faces forming a friction clutch, said first knob having a shank, a second knob threaded on said shank and adapted to engage said first named the table top, supporting means for said carriage including a gear running on each rack, and means for facilitating quick adjustment of said straight edge comprising a countershaft including an inner shaft and an outer shaft sleeved on said inner shaft, each of said shafts having a pinion on the adjacent ends of said shafts, said pinions meshing with one of said gears, a housing supported by one of said gears, bearings in said housing for said shafts, said pinions being mounted between said bearings, a first knob on the opposite end of said outer shaft, a tension spring connecting said knob to said inner shaft acting with said pinions to prevent back-lash, a disk on said outer shaft having a taper face, a second disk on said outer shaft having a taper face shaped to engage said first taper face, said faces forming a friction clutch, said first knob having a shank, a second knob threaded on said shank and adapted to engage said first named disk whereby to cause said friction faces to engage each other, said first named disk, said second disk and said knob being located between one of said bearings and said first knob, said carriage supporting means further including a carriage shaft extending across said table top and mounting said gears, and a hand wheel mounted on one of said gears.

3. A line-up table structure comprising a table top, a carriage mounted for movement top, a straight edge mounted on said carriage, said straight edge extending across the working area of said table top and said carriage supporting it for movement in a plane parallel with and close to said table top, racks at opposite sides of the table top, supporting means for said carriage including a gear running on each rack, and means for facilitating quick adjustment of said straight edge comprising a countershaft including an inner shaft and an outer shaft sleeved on said inner shaft, each of said shafts having a pinion on the adjacent ends of said shafts, said pinions meshing with one of said gears, a housing supported by one of said gears, hearings in said housing for said shafts, said pinions being mounted between said bearings, a first knob on the opposite end of said outer shaft, a tension spring connecting said knob to said inner shaft acting with said pinions to prevent back-lash, a Vernier disk on said outer shaft having a taper face, a second disk on said outer shaft having a taper face adapted to engage said first taper face, said faces forming a friction clutch, said first knob having a shank, a second knob threaded on said shank and adapted to engage said Vernier disk whereby to cause said friction faces to engage each other, said vernier disk, said second disk and second knob being located between one of said bearings and said first knob, said carriage supporting means further including a carriage shaft extending across said table top and mounting said gears, and a hand wheel mounted on one of said gears, said countershaft being held by said bearings in vertical alignment with said carriage supporting shaft.

JAMES WEST. WM. M. DAVIS.

across said 

